When It's Too Late
by underworldromantic
Summary: Read and find out. GS pairing.


When It's Too Late

By underworldromantic/tawnyteaser

Disclaimer: Not mine

Spoilers/Author's Note: Any ep up until season 4 is game and this will probably be a one shot. I'm brainstorming on my other stories. Oh and the song 'Break Away' is sung by Kelly Clarkson and fits so nicely.

Sara walked out of the building and stared at the bright sun, unseeing. Her heart was ripped, shredded into pieces and no one knew but for her. Her lungs felt tight and she felt tears burning in her eyes. When she had told Grissom that it might be too late she hadn't meant it. There would never be anyone for her but Grissom.

She pasted a smile on her face as she passed a few officers she knew on her way to her Tahoe. Sara climbed into the SUV and gasped for air. She started the engine and reversed. Her mind on auto pilot as she ran through the different ways she had tried to gain his attention.

She had thought he had cared, she really did. Grissom rethinking his evaluation of the evidence to do an experiment? That wasn't something he normally did and it had seemed at the time that he had done that for her, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe he had just done it to prove that he really did know it all.

Several Hours Later...

Sara sighed and pulled out into traffic. Coming to Las Vegas had been the sign she had been looking for. Or what she had thought she had been looking for. 'Face it you sure can pick 'em.' Sara thought to herself. She thought of Grissom and Hank. Hank had been charming, punctual and attentive everything that Grissom wasn't. Sara sighed again and finally allowed the tears to fall. She didn't notice the loud explosion or the sound of shattering glass as she tuned out everything...everything but her misery.

Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I just stared out my window  
Dreaming of a could-be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray (I would pray)

Grissom walked into his office and grabbed the assignment sheet before heading to the break room. He found Warrick, Nick and Catherine all waiting there for him, minus Sara.

"Well ladies and gents everything is being put on the back burner for tonight. A multiple car accident that has shut interstate 9 since this morning, which means.."

"Road trip as Sara would say." Warrick finished. "Hey where is she?"

Grissom swallowed and shrugged. His refusal to her dinner invitation still bothered him. He hadn't thought. Hadn't wanted to. He mentally sighed. The explosion and everything combined had taken a toll and to have to admit that he would need surgery was a crushing blow. To have Sara come in and ask him out had been the wind that had blown down his precarious house of cards.

"Knowing Sara she's probably already at the scene, I mean she does take I 9 to get home and to come to work so if it was closed then she would know that a CSI would be requested right?" Nick pointed out and bit into his apple.

Grissom nodded, it did sound plausible. "Well we can't let days have all the fun now can we? Let's move." He said.

Trying not to reach out  
But when I'd try to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me  
Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I pray (I would pray)  
I could breakaway

Sara awoke slowly; aware that her body was one big ache and that she couldn't move. She could hear a metal saw and that was all she knew as her world turned to black again.

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky  
I'll make a wish  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I'll take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway

"Geez what a mess." Catherine muttered under her breath as the Tahoe pulled up outside the yellow caution tape.

Warrick nodded his head in agreement. "Just look at this, they're still trying to get the vics out of the vehicles." He said and watched as Grissom and Nick climbed out of their Tahoe.

"Well I can't see Sara anywhere, maybe she caught a ride with Brass?" Nick said as he pulled out his kit and started to walk towards the familiar figure of Jim Brass.

Grissom ignored the tight feeling in his chest as he too noticed the absence of Sara. He turned his gaze to the mess before him. 20 odd cars, SUV's and 4 semis, not good.

"Hey guys. Glad you could make it. Ecklie and his crew were here earlier but they left as soon as they heard you were on your way." Jim Brass said in greeting as he saw the four CSI's walking up to him.

"What's the tally so far?" Catherine asked as she surveyed the damage.

"Of the people recovered so far 15 have been sent to Desert Palm and that's only at the tail end. So far they've only reached the middle. From what eye witnesses say a semi at the front blew a tire lost control and started the whole chain." Brass said and indicated to where fire and rescue personal were still struggling to free the victims.

"How many didn't make it?" Nick asked softly as he looked at the mass of wrecked metal before him.

"So far only 3. They're expecting more as they get closer to the epicenter." Brass said and stood off to the side and crossed his arms.

"Hey Brass did Sara come with you?"

Brass looked over at Warrick. "No. I didn't even know she was working tonight."

The four CSI's looked at each other and back at the pile up.

"Nick, Catherine start on the right. Warrick you're with me."

"Are we doing what I think what we're doing?" Catherine said and put her kit down.

"This is the route that Sara takes on her way to work right? Since she hasn't shown up it's likely to assume that she's here or-"Grissom said and walked off not wanting to finish the sentence.

"I hope he's wrong." Nick said and headed over to where emergency personal were taking turns removing wreckage to get to the trapped or dying or dead.

Wanna feel the warm breeze  
Sleep under a palm tree  
Feel the rush of the ocean  
Get onboard a fast train  
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)  
And breakaway

Sara opened her eyes slowly as she heard voices around her. "Help." Her voice came out weak and Sara struggled not to panic. "Help!" She shouted and was rewarded by what felt like thousands of needles piercing her body. She felt the blackness hovering on the fringes of her vision but fought. She knew now that something was wrong and that there had been an accident thus pinning her in her vehicle.

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky  
I'll make a wish  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I'll take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway

Grissom raised his head as he heard a shout from one of the firefighters.

"We got a live one! Pinned behind the steering column and other injuries. I'm gonna need the jaws to get her out."

Grissom felt his heart skip a beat as he grabbed Warricks forearm.

"Get Cat and Nick here." He said quietly and focused his attention on the scene unfolding before him.

"Hey guys over here. Griss thinks it's her!" Warrick shouted to Catherine and Nick who were talking to Brass as they collected what evidence they could.

"Damn." Catherine said and finished labeling her envelope before heading over to where Grissom was standing.

"You said it." Brass said and looked on as his friend went from scientist to man in love.

"What have they said man?" Nick asked as he took a spot beside Warrick.

"Not good. Pinned and they've requested the jaws to extract her." Warrick said softly.

The four CSI's and Brass looked on as the sound of a motor fractured the eerie silence. The sound of metal being cut away, pausing every now and then to have the piece removed then the roar of metal being cut.

Grissom wasn't a very religious man but today he was. He knew, somehow he knew that the person being rescued was Sara. He felt numb, as if it was somebody else going through it.

Buildings with a hundred floors  
Swinging around wild indoors  
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but  
Gotta keep moving on, moving on  
Fly away, breakaway

Sara bit her lip as she felt the metal being cut away from her. The pain was excruciating, a never-ending wave. She finally couldn't hold her screams in anymore and let them loose before falling into oblivion as unconsciousness took hold.

Grissom felt his blood freeze as a scream ripped through the air. It was her. There was no doubt left. "Sara." He chocked out as yet another scream filled the air.

"Oh my-" Catherine said and put a hand over her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she too recognized her co-workers screams.

"Damn it, what are they doing to her!" Brass shouted.

Nick turned away and covered his ears. Warrick was silent, but his eyes were anguished.

Silence rained again as the sound of the Jaws of Life was put aside.

"I'm going to need a hand here!" One of the firefighters said. "Air vac!" Another shouted.

"Eta for air one is 10 minutes." Came a shouted reply from a medic who had just been on the radio.

"I don't know if she'll last that long. Massive trauma to torso, abdomen and lower extremities."

"If she's held on this long then she's got something to fight for."

The team heard this exchange and hope fell and fear rose as they heard the shouted words.

"Not this. Not Sara." Nick chocked out.

Grissom clenched his hands into fists. The minutes seemed to go as slow as evolution.

"Okay get a backboard ready, neck brace is on."

The team held their breaths as they saw for the first time the broken body of their co-worker. Blood was all they could see. She was carefully placed on a backboard, strapped to it and then carried away from the wreckage that had been her hell for the past few hours. The team watched as a helicopter suddenly appeared and hovered, lowering a basket.

"They're not going to land it?" Warrick asked out loud, incredulously.

"They can't, there's no room. I'm just glad that they had this chopper for her." Brass said, his eyes following the baskets ascent to the helicopter, carrying one of his favourite CSI's.

"I hate to say this but Ecklie should be brought back. I mean we're too emotionally involved right?" Nick said.

The team nodded their agreement and collected their kits. Right now making sure that Sara would be okay would be their top priority.

I'll spread my wings  
And I'll learn how to fly  
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye  
I gotta take a risk  
Take chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway  
Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget the place I come from  
I gotta take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway

Sara floated. That was the only way she could describe the feeling. Pain couldn't touch her. She gazed down as if it was a movie, and she was part of the audience. She saw Warrick, Nick, Catherine and Brass' reaction. She was touched but what really made her feel like shouting with joy was the look on Grissoms' face. Love, that undeniable emotion was lying there. He could deny it to her face but since she wasn't even supposed to be seeing this she knew. 'I don't want to die.' She thought and reached, reached for the only thing that kept her from giving up. Grissom.

Sara relaxed and ran towards him, away from the light and the peace awaiting her there. She would give that up just to spend another moment in his presence, to be able to smell him one more time, to see him look at her with his blue, blue eyes. Sara sighed as she once again felt the pain reach out and grab her. She could handle that. She could handle anything now. 'I'd go through hell just to tell him.' She thought and faded into unconsciousness, ready to fight to get back to him.

Two Days Later...

"Well Mr. Grissom she's not out of the woods yet but she's slowly on the mend. That last time I really thought she'd be ending up on your caseload. But she's a fighter, that one."

"Thank you doctor." Grissom said softly and carefully opened the door to the room where Sara was being monitored. He walked slowly over to her bedside and marveled at her survival. Tubes and bandages masked her injuries and Grissom leaned down and kissed her bandaged head. "I will never be late again Sara. You have my promise on that." He whispered as if he thought she could hear him. He smiled gently and sat down in the chair closest to her bed. He reached out and touched her hand gently. "I know now what to do about this, what to do about us." He said, more for himself then for the women he loved lying there.

Fin

Welll? I just couldn't get the thought of what could have happened to poor Sara in Playing with Fire if she hadn't followed Grissom around. She could have been checking up with Greg. Anyways I know I said that this would be a one shot but that might change.

Review please.


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